Graphene research wins Physics Nobel for European nanotechnologists

Graphene research wins Physics Nobel for European nanotechnologists

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both of the University of Manchester, “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene.”

A thin flake of ordinary carbon, just one atom thick, lies behind this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. Geim and Novoselov have shown that carbon in such a flat form has exceptional properties that originate from the remarkable world of quantum physics.

The EU is proud to announce that two of its grantees, Professor Konstantin Novoselov and Professor Andre Geim of the University of Manchester in the UK, have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking work in two-dimensional graphene.

Professor Novoselov and his colleague, Professor Andre Geim, both received the distinguished prize for their work on graphene, a super thin (just one atom thick) wafer of carbon atoms that is set to revolutionise electronics and photonics, such as computers, sensors and solar cells.

In addition to near-term use in ultra strong and lightweight composite materials, Eric Drexler notes in his blog Metamodern that strong stiff structures made using graphene nanotechnology “may be key to the development of nanomechanical systems for atomically precise fabrication,” thus leading to productive nanosystems expected to form the basis of advanced nanotechnology.

Whether your focus is basic physics and nanoscience, diverse near-term practical applications, or the eventual development of advanced molecular manufacturing systems, the research recognized with this award is a great step forward.